Draft is where Stars director of amateur scouting Joe McDonnell shines

Joe McDonnell started his career as a great OHL coach, but he looks back now and is glad that line of work sort of derailed.
The Stars' director of amateur scouting spent parts of nine seasons with the Kitchener Rangers, winning OHL Coach of the Year in 1989 and getting his team to the Memorial Cup in 1990. So, there were a lot of good memories behind the bench for the now 61-year-old Kitchener, Ontario native. But when he was fired in the middle of the 1994-95 season, he admitted there was a bit of a relief.

"It was hard to leave coaching, but once I did it was the best thing in my life," said McDonnell, who oversees all facets of the Stars' amateur scouting operations, including running the club's efforts at the NHL Draft, while working closely with GM Jim Nill and his staff. "There's so much emotion every day when you're coaching, so many highs and lows, and you have to be able to adjust to that. The highs were great, but the lows were really low, and if you get too many lows, it really does weigh on you. I was happy to get out of that racket, to be honest."
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When McDonnell got a chance to move into scouting, it seemed like a natural transition. He was hired by the Detroit Red Wings in 1995. That started a lifelong relationship with Nill that still flourishes today.
"I definitely think we saw things the same way, and that made it easy," said Nill, who played with McDonnell on the Vancouver Canucks back in 1982. "He has a great demeanor and a great eye for talent, and that just fits being a scout."

While the process can be slow and tedious, McDonnell's eye for detail has helped him in the world of scouting. He worked his way up through a Detroit organization that was known for uncovering gems, and he continues to do that as the leader of the Stars organization. After serving as the top scout in Detroit, McDonnell came with Nill to the Stars in 2013. In recent years, he's helped stock the cupboards with talent, including 2021 first-rounder Wyatt Johnston, who was named MVP of the OHL this past season.
"Joe was the driving force there," Nill said of McDonnell's decision to take Johnston 23rd overall. "He was the main person to make that decision and to drive the organization. He saw Wyatt a lot obviously, but he also did a lot of homework, talking to people and having good connections in the area. In the end, it was a gut feel and Joe had the gut feel. Between the underage years, seeing him those seven games in the Under-18s, and then doing his homework, he had a great feeling on the kid, and that's a skillset in its own regard that you have as a scout. Sometimes, you just feel it."
McDonnell said the process of scouting Johnston is what makes the job so much fun. The skilled forward wasn't able to play his draft season because of the pandemic, so McDonnell had to rely on earlier seasons and the U-18s that were played in Texas. It was a leap of faith, but one that paid off huge when Johnston tallied 124 points in 68 games last season.
"We did our work, but we also got a little lucky," McDonnell said.

That's part of how the scouting game works, and McDonnell's done a good job of keeping good luck on the Stars' side. His team uncovered Miro Heiskanen, Jake Oettinger, Jason Robertson and Jacob Peterson in 2017, and then uncovered Mavrik Bourque in 2020 and Johnston and Logan Stankoven in 2021. That's the kind of group that could help carry the Stars for years to come.
"I think he just understands the process," Nill said. "He'd been in junior hockey as a top coach, so he had a great feel for the players. He was familiar with his own players and familiar with players on other teams. When you're a coach in junior hockey, you're sort of a scout too, so it worked out well. I definitely think the coaching helped him because he understands the skillset needed and he understands the dynamics of a dressing room and what intangibles can make you a good player."
McDonnell gives credit to his staff and said the Stars organization has done a solid job of building good scouting talent. Nill said that McDonnell follows the same philosophy as his GM - surround yourself with good people.
Nill even said that when he moved from Detroit, where he spent a good deal of time scouting, he knew the transition to GM would be challenging. The first two seasons, he tried to take scouting trips to Europe and quickly discovered he didn't have the time to spend in that part of the business.
"I knew it was going to be tough to leave, and I tried to do both, but you learn pretty quickly that the demands of this job are pretty heavy," Nill said. "So having someone like Joe there made that easier."
McDonnell said he's happy with the fact his career headed in this direction. Sure, coaching was fun, but it wasn't the pace he wanted.
"It was the right move for me at the time, and it's worked out well," he said "I also think the difference between working in the OHL and the NHL is night and day. It was great in the 'O,' but to be working at the highest level, it's a different feeling."
He's been a part of four Stanley Cup championships with the Red Wings and is pushing to get one in Dallas. If the current group of young players is able to accomplish that, McDonnell's name will be front and center.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.